Oct. 8, 2011 – Philadelphia 3, New Jersey 0. Bryzgalov’s first shutout as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers came against the Devils. Philadelphia’s Matt Read, who went on to lead all rookies in goals, found the back of the net for the first time at 2:41 of the third period. Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds accounted for the Flyers’ other two goals.

Nov. 3, 2011 – New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 3 SO. When the two squads met again, it was rookie Adam Henrique’s turn to shine. Henrique scored his first NHL goal to give us an early indication of the kind of season he would have. As was the case in their last meeting, Claude Giroux scored against New Jersey. However, this time around Patrik Elias proved to be the hero with a shootout goal.

Jan. 21, 2012 – Phildelphia 4, New Jersey 1. Claude Giroux got two assists, but it was Scott Hartnell that led the Flyers to victory. Hartnell netted two power-play goals, including the game-winner. Wayne Simmonds chipped in an empty netter and also recorded two assists. On the Devils’ side, this would be the first of two games where they allowed less than 20 shots, but still lost the contest.

Feb. 4, 2012 – New Jersey 6, Philadelphia 4. This was a truly bizarre contest. The Devils scored three goals in each of the first and second periods to take a 6-0 lead. In that span, they got two power-play goals from Kurtis Foster and Zach Parise also scored with the man advantage. On top of that, Ilya Kovalchuk got a Gordie Howe hat trick.

The Philadelphia Flyers came back hard in the final period, outshooting the Devils by an unreal margin of 24-1. With 6:29 still remaining in the contest, the Flyers had reduced the Devils’ lead to two, but New Jersey managed to hold on after that.

March 11, 2012 – New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 1. Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t get into a fight this time, but he did score a goal and register two assists. As impressive as that is, the night belonged to Martin Brodeur, who became the first goaltender in the history of the league to win 650 regular season games. The next best goaltender, Patrick Roy, won 551 contests in his NHL career.

March 13, 2012 – Philadelphia 3, New Jersey 0. The Flyers bounced back in the second half of their home-and-home series. Ilya Bryzgalov, who was allowed to rest on March 11, earned his third straight shutout. Danny Briere netted a goal and an assist for Philadelphia while Sean Couturier accounted for the game-winning goal.

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers will host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal (3:00 pm ET, NBC). The Flyers lead the series 2-0; here’s a look at recent history between the two clubs.

Sidney Crosby scored the first goal of the playoffs, kickstarting a dominant period for the Penguins. Although Philadelphia is one of the better teams in the league when it comes to bouncing back after falling behind, the Penguins looked good after establishing a 3-0 lead over 20 minutes.

The second period was a more even affair, most notable for Danny Briere scoring a goal despite being offside — the call was missed and the goal stood, so the Flyers’ got on the board.

Philadelphia did not immediately pick up momentum from that break, but it did mark a slow turning of the tide. Briere netted his second goal of the game at 9:17 of the third period and then Brayden Schenn found the back of the net a little over three minutes later.

That sent the game to overtime, where Jakub Voracek won the game for Philadelphia 2:23 into the extra frame.

Game 2: Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 3

Philadelphia, with some hard work and the aid of a big break in Briere’s overtime goal, were able to overcome a sizable deficit in Game 1 — but they could not afford to do that again. The Flyers went into this game knowing they needed to come out strong to avoid putting themselves in another hole.

That plan lasted all of 15 seconds – the time it took Sidney Crosby to once again hand the Penguins a 1-0 lead. The Penguins dominated the first period and went into the intermission with a commanding 3-1 lead. Once again Plan A had failed for the Flyers, but fortunately, Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier had one heck of a Plan B.

Couturier and Giroux combined for six goals over the next 40 minutes. Although the Penguins had their moments over that period, they were brief, and when looking back on the game, those final two periods resemble a slaughter more than an even fight.

Giroux finished the game with six points, the most in a playoff game since April 23, 1992. Couturier was the third rookie in Flyers’ history to earn a playoff hat trick, and the Flyers took a 2-0 series lead — which in their 44-year history, they have never coughed up.

1. The health question. Oddly enough, after a season full of injury woes for the Penguins (Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal, and others), it’s Philly that’s banged up the worst. Ilya Bryzgalov has a sore foot. Danny Briere’s out indefinitely. Nicklas Grossman has a lower-body injury. JVR is on the shelf. Ditto for Andrej Meszaros. And of course we all know Chris Pronger is out with a concussion.

2. Deja vu in net? Speaking of Bryzgalov, are the Flyers really that committed to the possibly injured philosopher of the universe? Or will they have another humongous goaltending yo-yo nightmare on their hands? This might not be an easy tiger to wrestle with. (Sorry, re-watched 24/7 recently.)

3. Comfy Consol. The Penguins seem to have a case of “new building syndrome” when it comes to hosting the Flyers. It’s a modern sporting phenomenon, where a team gets a shiny new arena that’s inviting to all, including its opponents. (Just ask Scott Hartnell where he’d rather play.) Philly’s lost exactly one game in six at Consol Energy Center during its first two seasons, and that was Saturday’s meaningless contest.

4. Jagr’s revenge? – OK, cheating by adding a “bonus” storyline here, but one has to mention Jaromir Jagr taking on his former team in the playoffs after breaking a few hearts this summer. Sure, he played against Pittsburgh in his last run in the league with the New York Rangers, yet the (ultimately failed) courting process should make this another fun story to follow.

The Flyers can solve that problem quickly by putting Ian Laperriere on long term injured reserve and getting his $1.167 million contract off the books. That much salary would be enough to get the Flyers back under the cap and it’s expected to be the move to come.

Of course, things aren’t quite that easy for Philly. Rookie Sean Couturier has started off his season looking like he fits right into the mix. His entry-level salary cap hit of $1.375 million only counts against the Flyers’ payroll if he stays in Philly for the season. The Flyers will have until after their ninth game of the season on October 26 against Montreal to figure that out.

If Couturier stays, the Flyers will have to make a move or two to get under the cap. Making things more awkward is that Betts’ contract is the 50th deal for the organization. NHL teams are limited to having just 50 contracts and staying at that 50 contract limit obviously makes things uncomfortable for GMs. Getting that flexibility to add a player is one most GMs prefer to have.

Paul Holmgren’s work to fix up the Flyers this offseason has been more than worthy of attention, but he’s got more work to do now.

It’s unclear if Betts is still dealing with shoulder issues that have been a problem for some time. Betts said that it’s a lower-body injury instead, but whatever the ailment might be, he’s not going to suit up with the Canadiens.

In a way, this might be a blessing in disguise for Philly, even if it’s initially embarrassing.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman rendered the decision after reviewing submissions from both Clubs. By-Law 11.8 (a) states: “The Member Club acquiring a player by waiver claim shall take an assignment of the player’s contract. Nevertheless, if the Commissioner determines that a player acquired by waiver claim is not physically fit at the time the claim is made, the Member Club making the claim may refuse to take an assignment of such player’s contract and the request for waivers shall be cancelled.”

In reaching his decision, Commissioner Bettman stated: “While it is clear that both clubs have acted in good faith in this unique situation (i.e. a waiver claim), I am not prepared to dispute the conclusion of the Montreal Club doctors that Mr. Betts was physically unfit to play at the time of the claim. Therefore, it is my decision that, per League By-Laws, the appropriate resolution to this matter is to restore the parties to the
position they were in prior to the waiver claim on Oct. 5.”